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Authors Posts by Melissa Dehoff

Melissa Dehoff

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Melissa Dehoff is responsible for all medical rehabilitation and brain injury service issues. Ms. Dehoff attends multiple state-level meetings to advocate on behalf of members on brain injury and rehabilitation issues and is a member of the Department of Health Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board.

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Novitas Solutions, the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Pennsylvania, will host a webinar for PA inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) and the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) on February 18, 2026, at 1:00 pm ET. During this webinar, Novitas will provide an overview of the state’s Cycle 3 progress in the IRF RCD thus far, including top reasons for non-affirmations and documentation guidelines. Novitas is also expected to share data on statewide affirmation rates in Cycle 3, which would mark the most recent data available to date on the program.

Registration for the webinar is available here. A recording of the webinar will also be made available on Novitas’s Pennsylvania’s IRF RCD website following the event.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) is making available for public review and comments the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) proposed amendment for the Community HealthChoices (CHC) waiver and the proposed renewal of the OBRA waiver. The proposed amendment of the CHC waiver and renewal of the OBRA waiver will be effective July 1, 2026.

DHS is proposing the following changes to the CHC waiver:

  • Add a teleservice option to the following waiver services:
    • Behavior therapy.
    • Benefits counseling.
  • Add language to specifically address teleservice delivery of waiver services and the Home and Community- Based Settings (HCBS) rule based on sections added to the waiver application.
  • Remove and modify outdated language throughout waiver.

The proposed CHC waiver amendment and a summary of all revisions are available for review here.

Written comments regarding the proposed renewal to OBRA should be sent to the Department of Human Services, Office of Long-Term Living, Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management, Attention: Keeley Anglin—CHC Waiver Amendment, P.O. Box 8025, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8025. Comments can also be sent via email. Use ”CHC Waiver Amendment” as the subject line. Comments received within 30 days will be considered in subsequent revisions to the proposed amendment.

DHS is proposing the following changes to the OBRA waiver:

  • Add a teleservice option to the following waiver services:
    • Behavior therapy.
    • Benefits counseling.
  • Revise outdated language regarding the OLTL quality improvement strategy and quality monitoring processes.
  • Add language regarding the need for a Service Coordinator to reassess a participant due to a trigger event.
  • Add language to specifically address teleservice delivery of waiver services and the Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) rule based on new sections in the waiver application.
  • Add language to comply with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services Final Rule (Access Rule) to update the complaint process for the fee-for-service waiver and update the timeframe to resolve a complaint from 45 to 60 days due to the additional requirements of the Access Rule.
  • Update OLTL’s goals for unduplicated number of waiver participants who are expected to elect participant direction.
  • Modify performance measures AA-2 and QP-2 and divide SP-5 into three separate performance measures: SP-5 (amount, frequency and duration), SP-9 (type) and SP-10 (scope).
  • Remove and modify outdated language throughout waiver.

The proposed OBRA waiver renewal and a summary of all revisions are available for review here.

Written comments regarding the proposed renewal to OBRA waiver should be sent to the Department of Human Services, Office of Long-Term Living, Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management, Attention: Keeley Anglin—OBRA Waiver Renewal, P.O. Box 8025, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8025. Comments can also be sent via email. Use ”OBRA Waiver Renewal” as the subject line. Comments received within 30 days will be considered.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to obtain public feedback on potential approaches to strengthen the American-made supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE) and essential medicines. Building on lessons learned during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), CMS is exploring ways to reduce reliance on foreign-made medical supplies and enhance the nation’s readiness for future emergencies while supporting American workers and manufacturers.

The proposed rule requests comments on new avenues CMS may consider promoting domestic purchasing by hospitals that participate in the Medicare program, including the potential creation of a new “Secure American Medical Supplies” designation for hospitals committed to American-made purchasing and streamlined payment approaches to help offset the resource costs of domestic procurement.

Comments on the ANPRM are due by March 30, 2026.

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Representative Tim Briggs originally scheduled a voting meeting for January 27, 2026, at 10:00 am to review amendments to HB 2042, known as the Safety in Youth Sports Act, which established standards for managing concussions and traumatic brain injuries of students participating in athletic activities. This meeting has been rescheduled to February 3, 2026, at 8:30 am.

Representative Briggs introduced HB 2042 in 2011. This meeting will include a discussion about proposed amendments to the original bill that will expand the scope of this Act to further provide for the proper management of brain injuries. The amendments include non-scholastic league and recreational sports and also provide information on Return to Learn. Representative Briggs will be incorporating this bill into the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes so that it is no longer a freestanding act.

The meeting will be held in Room 60 in the East Wing and will be livestreamed from the House Committee website.

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Inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) are reminded, as part of the Hospital Conditions of Participation (CoP), that one week of information must be submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC NHSN) portal related to certain respiratory conditions (COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV). This information must be submitted in January, as defined in the Protocol for the NHSN Hospital Respiratory Data (HRD) Reporting:

“To meet the annual reporting requirement, annual reporters should report data using either the HRD daily data pathway or HRD weekly data pathway for one of the following full weeks in January 2026:

  • Sunday, January 4, 2026 – Saturday January 10, 2026 (due by Tuesday January 13, 2025 – past due)
  • Sunday, January 11, 2026 – Saturday January 17, 2026 (due by Tuesday January 20, 2026 – past due)
  • Sunday, January 18, 2026 – Saturday January 24, 2026 (due by Tuesday January 27, 2026)
  • Sunday, January 25, 2026 – Saturday January 31, 2026 (due by Tuesday February 3, 2026)”

Additional information on the Respiratory Reporting Requirements is available here.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has released the agenda and call information for the February 4, 2026, Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Subcommittee meeting. This meeting will be held via webinar/remote streaming only from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Comments and questions for this meeting should be sent electronically.

The conference line for the meeting is:
Bridge Number: 1 (914) 614-3221 PIN: 938-224-090#
Webinar Link
Remote Streaming Link

For additional information about this meeting, visit the LTSS Subcommittee website.

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Today, the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) issued Bulletin 59-26-02, “Participant Review Tool,” which updates the standardized Participant Review Tool (PRT) for Service Coordinators (SC) as well as provides additional clarification on the location of face-to-face visits with participants when completing the PRT.

This bulletin also provides guidance to SCs on when increased face-to-face visits with program participants should be scheduled to protect their health, safety, and welfare. This bulletin rescinds OLTL Bulletin 59-16-12 and any other OLTL policy documents or parts of policy documents that are inconsistent with this bulletin’s contents. This bulletin applies to enrolled Service Coordination Entities (SCEs) performing services in OLTL Medical Assistance Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) for the OBRA waiver and the Act 150 Program.

Members are encouraged to review the bulletin, as well as the following documents that were included with the bulletin:

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The Department of Health’s (DOH) Brain Injury (BI) Advisory Board will hold their public meeting on Friday, February 6, 2026, from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm at the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) office, 6340 Flank Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17112 in the Cumberland conference room. The meeting materials will be sent out before the meeting and will also be available on the Board’s website and at the meeting location. Questions should be directed to Nicole Johnson.

DOH’s Head Injury Program (HIP) strives to ensure that eligible individuals who have a brain injury receive high quality rehabilitative services aimed at reducing functional limitations and improving quality of life. The BI Advisory Board assists DOH in understanding and meeting the needs of individuals living with acquired brain injuries, both traumatic and nontraumatic, and their families. This quarterly meeting provides updates on a variety of topics, including the number of people served by HIP. In addition, meeting participants will discuss budgetary and programmatic issues, community programs relating to traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries, and available advocacy opportunities.

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Representative Tim Briggs has scheduled a voting meeting for January 27, 2026, at 10:00 am to review amendments to HB 2042, known as the Safety in Youth Sports Act, which established standards for managing concussions and traumatic brain injuries of students participating in athletic activities.

Representative Briggs introduced HB 2042 in 2011. This meeting will include discussion about proposed amendments to the original bill which will expand the scope of this Act to further provide for the proper management of brain injuries. The amendments include non-scholastic league and recreational sports and also provide information on Return to Learn. Representative Briggs will also be incorporating this bill into the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes so that it is no longer a freestanding act.

The meeting will be held in Room 205 in the Ryan Office Building and will be livestreamed from the House Committee website.

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